A New Beginning
by Infinity1400
Summary: Maria Merryweather finds herself in modern times to break the curse on Moonacre Valley
1. Chapter 1:Rainy Ending to a Perfect Day

**The songs that inspired this chapter are:**

 ** _Cold as You-Taylor Swift_**

 ** _My Life Would Suck Without You-Kelly Clarkson_**

 ** _Centuries-Fall Out Boy_**

Today, was a bad day but for a moment it was perfect. I guess I'll tell you the perfect part first because my day started out perfect and for a minute everything felt normal and I guess I should have known there is no such thing as a perfect day.

I was out homecoming dress shopping with my nanny, Miss Heliotrope and with one of my best friends Katie. I found the perfect dress it was long and a purple ombre and just the right amount of sparkle. Katie found a black and pink dress striped dress. We were going in a limo that Megan's parents had gotten for us. We spent the day trying on dresses and laughing about some of them. We were talking about boys and how our dresses were date worthy. It was perfect.

Then, I found out that my father who would have been coming home in two from the war in Afghanistan died. I was never close with my father and always thought that maybe he would love and adore me like he did when I was a little girl. When I was little he would shower me with presents and always make sure that everyone in London knew that I was his daughter and why he was so proud of me. After my mom died of Pertussis he changed, he stopped being happy and carefree and started being guarded and depressed. I think that he thought that the world hated him so he started hating the world.

My mom was just like my father she was always caring and helping people that didn't have as much as we did. Our house was never empty when she was alive and she taught me that anything was possible. She also taught me that everyone was equal in God's eyes and to pay attention to their hearts not their clothes. My mom was the one who never shielded from the harsh world like my father did. She always answered all of my questions truthfully and in a way I could understand. After she died when I 13 I tried to convince my father to help people like she did, not hurt them but he never listened. Eventually I stopped trying.

About a week after my father died we had the funeral, not many people came probably because in his later years he pushed everyone away but a couple of his good friends who stayed with him through everything came and a few friends who didn't only knew him before my mother died came too. After I put the roses on his coffin and Mom's grave. I thought I saw a man in black leather standing under the pavilion after I laid the roses down but I figured it was just my imagination because when I looked back a minute later, he was gone but I kept looking back out of curiosity which earned me a stern look from Miss Heliotrope.

 ** **I hope you liked the first chapter. Please review and favorite or follow****


	2. Chapter 2: Every Dark Night Turns to Day

**The songs for this chapter are:**

 **Every Storm(Runs out of Rain)-Gary Allen**

 **Dream On-Aerosmith**

 **Drag Me Down-One Direction**

After the Funeral the lawyer read my father's will to us but it turns out he borrowed a lot of money because he had a gambling addiction. After all of his debts were paid all that was left was a storybook. It was titled the "Secret of Moonacre."

I am now starting to wonder how he died, Miss Heliotrope knows but she won't tell me what the official cause of death was. I wonder if his gambling got him killed indirectly but until she tells me or I find out by myself I will never know for sure.

Tomorrow is my last day at school, I will miss homecoming but with everything that happened I don't know if I would have wanted to go because everyone I know will just give me sympathetic looks and forget who they knew me as not the girl that has to move because her father got himself killed. I will miss marching band, tennis, track, and all of my friends or anyone who I have laughed with. I wish I made more of effort to stay friends with some people I met over summer break but I never knew how or if I would fit into their friend group, but I will miss making memories with all of my different groups of friends. Now is not the time for what ifs though like I always say in tennis focus on the point in front of you so you don't focus on past mistakes. I am dreading all of the good byes not because not seeing these people again because I know that my best friends will call me and we will figure it out somehow but because of all of these people will lie to me and say the are sad even though they are not and people saying that they loved getting to know me even though most of them don't know who I really am.

Since Friday's tomorrow, I am hosting a sleepover party with all of my closest friends just so we can have one last memory of all of us together. I can't wait, today I am baking almost everything that is on my pinterest account because I don't know how much I am going to be able to bake when I am at my Uncle Benjamin's house. Baking is my stress reliever when I feel like nothing's going right, I bake something and I suddenly feel like my life is under control again.

I am determined to make this the best sleepover I have ever had because I am sure I will make new friends at my uncle's house I just don't know if they will be as crazy or weird as my friends now but I hope they are. I will never forget these groups of friends. I think it is so funny how my different groups of friends almost never mix, a couple of my friends do crossover into different groups but most of them stay in the group they are in. I feel like they all know a different side of me but they all know my general story. A couple don't even fit into a group they just showed up in my life. I think those friends know me better than anyone because with them I had no expectations to live up to.

I can't believe that in two days I have to leave for my uncle's house, I guess that I am excited and nervous all at once. There is so much I don't know about him and Moonacre Valley since I am logical I hate the feeling of not knowing, its like one project we did in General Chemistry. We had to figure out in the box but the catch was that the only data we could collect was by pouring water into the box. but the water we put in rarely matched up with the water I put in. I guess that now would be the perfect time to reinvent myself into the person I wish I was.

 **Thank you guys so much for the reviews.**


	3. Chapter 3: We Danced all Night

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p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; font-size: 18px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="7579d225448e6e722a37a3c297e9c469"It was my last day of school and the day of my sleepover. School was uneventful but all of my teachers made a point of letting everyone know that it was my last day at school. In band we did what we always do we practice since tonight is a home football game we were practicing formations, I am glad that I got to do formations at least once because we have all worked so hard at making them perfect and I wanted to be a part of all of our hard work at least once. All of my other classes were the same old. A lot people started talking to me in the hallway, to be honest I recognized the faces but I didn't know their names. I just knew them from track, tennis, or some of my classes./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; font-size: 18px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="d353f92e702ce66c92cf9bae05d263bf"The call time for the football game was 5:15 so I just stayed at school and hung out in the band room until them. I think that of all the places in my town, I am going to miss the band room the most because it was the only place where I truly felt at home because everyone is weird and will laugh off just about everything. It was there where I met most of my friends like Katelyn who was even shorter than me and we made fun of the tall people who made mocked us. I will also miss people like Jacob who was the stereotypical nerd who proved the math book wrong. He always had some kind of argument even if it was, "Well your opinions are stupid." I related more to Terrence who was smart like me just not Jacob smart. So I spent all of my study halls with my band geek friends./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; font-size: 18px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="288e9c78c089d7eea6b7a2edb0fa624d"Call time for the football game started out as usual with Mason and Aaron, the drum captain, doing the dance for Watch Me(Whip/Nae Nae) and the rest of us joining along. I guess drum line is 10% work 90% fooling around. While we got into our uniforms the rest of the playlist played and I jokingly asked my friends if I told them I murdered someone would they still love me the same. I snaked with the band for the last time, we played the pre-show, played for every kickoff and our schools touchdown, and did the half-time show. During the halftime show we did formations which by the way went perfectly. After we got back in the band room, the seniors all shouted "Let's get naked" like they always do./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; font-size: 18px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="eb6a9dd55cdf29ddb6fd651a7d687f16"I went back into the football game and hung out with my friends in the student section cheering and chanting with my friends. After the game, all of my friends went back to my house for the sleepover. I put on the music and we all danced, ate, and talked. I don't know what I am going to do without them but we can always call, text, and face-time but it won't be the same as talking to them face-to-face. I hope we will still be able to get together at my uncle's house but nothing is certain for now because I don't even know what he looks like./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; font-size: 18px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="089e03aa74dd542b192edc0c5c38d928"The next morning we said goodbyes, rather tearfully but they will get over me, I am sure. I said goodbye to Miss Heliotrope. She is one of the only adults who truly knows what I am like and who will support me in whatever I do./p 


	4. Chapter 4: She Ran Away in her Sleep

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p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; font-size: 18px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="d9c06f00d56a08f962acba56b2bd8c3d"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Paradise-Coldplay/span/p  
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p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; font-size: 18px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="a6b4614f6945284c0d860119b53d1ce2"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Hall of Fame-The Script ft. will. /span/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; font-size: 18px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="cbe8129f7ca3c78784fe9f5611dd4754"I had just said my goodbyes when Miss Heliotrope came down the stairs and said, "Maria, I never imagined leaving you but I realize that you need space to make your own decisions. Just know that I have always loved you and I always will."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; font-size: 18px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="9f770ac1d2c1fc215e45e173ed1e9640"I replied, while on the verge of tears, "I will always love you too, Miss Heliotrope./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; font-size: 18px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="ff4049884a21a1db1fe1d002a0d1a74c"After I said my final goodbyes to everyone. I got into my uncle's car. One of his friends was driving it. I already forgot his name, which to be expected because I am absolutely terrible with names but still I should be able to remember one name. Oh well I guess, I will just never talk to him again./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; font-size: 18px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="9c9716e2fd88efc07819146dcc8493cf"We finally left the driveway, and I silently said goodbye to all of the hangout places, the football field, the throwing circles, the band room, and the place that I have lived for 15 years. The city will change with new buildings and people but I know that my memories will not change and that my friends will always be there for me./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; font-size: 18px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="cd65094472c40b37aaf23c005ad83b4e"As we were driving to my new home, I was watching the setting change from urban to rural, from skyscrapers to farm fields. I was mesmerized by the scenery. That was when the smell hit me. I don't know how it got in the car because all of the windows were closed. I disgustingly said, "What is that smell?" Uncle Benjamin's friend answered saying it was the smell of cow manure and he chuckled to himself. If this is what everything will smell like, I don't think that I will be able to like it here despite the nature's beauty. /p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; font-size: 18px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="5b8357e4d6483ef1a3b0a6ce3ea0b30d"When we arrived, well I should say when we arrived at the gate, my uncle's friend had to get out to unlock the gate. After a few minutes of waiting him to find the right key. I heard something on top of the car so I rolled down my window and stuck my head out of the window to ask him if he was close to unlocking the gate and to ask what dropped on top of the car./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; font-size: 18px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="61b0fad6605b5f1c899344f133da52d2"A didn't even get to say anything because someone, a man, grabbed me. There were others but I guess they thought that capturing me was an one person job. I was not prepared to fight of boys when I packed my bags and desperately looked around for something, anything to fight him off with when I scratched him with my nail, he hollered in pain and let go of me. I quickly shut my door, locked it, and my uncle's friend who had finally found the right key in the midst of the fighting, quickly drove off./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; font-size: 18px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="5dbfdcf96e3285567456fcf5c6b4af7e"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"span style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: underline;"I will gladly consider any suggestions anyone has so please keep reading and reviewing/span/span/p 


	5. Chapter 5: The Place Where I Belong

We had just gotten to Uncle Benjamin's house when I had finally shaken off the attack or attempt at kidnapping. Whatever you want to call it; I can't say what it was since I don't know the men's purpose. When we arrived his friend opened the car door for us and I thanked him. Uncle Benjamin must have been waiting for us because he opened and said, "Welcome to Moonacre," I recognized the name from the book that Father left for me. To be honest, I haven't read it yet because I am too afraid that it might bring up emotions of love or hate and it would be best if he remained a emotionless figure in my head. I would never tell anyone that though.

Uncle Benjamin thanked his friend for bringing me here. His name is Digweed, finally I know what his name is. His name is a little weird but who cares.

I reached out my hand for Uncle Benjamin to shake but he ignored the gesture. After that awkward encounter of rejecting the handshake, I started to tell him about the men who tried to kidnap me. "Uncle you will never believe what happened at the front gate. We were attacked by a band of rogues that tried to kidnap me. I had to fight them off. If it wasn't for Digweed who found the right key at the right time they would have overpowered and captured me."

He quickly wrote me off with, "I will hear your tale some other time."

I of course was outraged that he would dismiss my comments so quickly but decided not to say anything because this first impression had already taken a wrong turn. He gave me a tour of his mansion. He finished at my room and said, "I hope that this will be good enough for you. I will see you tomorrow at breakfast." He started going down the stairs and then yelled, "breakfast is at 8,"

I called down, "Goodnight uncle," but there was no response.

I opened the door to my room and my mouth dropped open. It had a dome roof, with star-designs. The geometrical walls had paintings of landscapes on them; my best hypothesis was that they were the landscapes of the parts of the valley that I haven't seen yet. On one end it had a fireplace. It looked like a fiery wave and on the other side, the bed looked like the ocean, a clam was on the headboard and its design although hard to explain looked it came out of a wave. I even had my own bathroom. The door was a little small but since I am only 5' (152 cm) it doesn't really matter.

I spent the rest of my night organizing and making sure that in the morning I would not trip over anything in my half-dead state. It was 8:30 when I realized that I was hungry so I went in the bag and pulled my bag of pretzels out. I never go anywhere without a snack or a water bottle. After I got in the shower and watched Netflix until 9:30 when I decided it was bedtime.

 **I hope you guys liked this chapter. Please review because I want to know what you guys think**


	6. Chapter 6: Love isn't all it Seems

During the night I did not sleep well. I don't know if it was the the new place or missing my old home. I can't admit it but lately my dreams were all about my parents. These were filled with my father and my mother saying thing like, "You Destined for great things," "You're can make a difference in this world," and other cliche phrases that every parent tells their kid.

When I woke up that morning I was surprised to find milk and cookies waiting for me next my bed. I immediately wondered who brought them them there. When I got out of bed on a chair in my room I found a dress. It was velvet and upon further inspection, it had a L embroidered on the sleeve. It was not my style though and opted for something of mine.

I chose my dark boot-cut jeans and a long-sleeved blue shirt. I got dressed, brushed my teeth and hair, put on my Beautiful Day perfumes and took the Secret of Moonacre book since I was planning to read it and didn't want to go all the up in my room to get it. When I left my room I noticed a painting of a women that I was sure was not there when I arrived yesterday, I figured that whoever brought me the milk and cookies. I surprisingly found my way back to the living room where I found Uncle Benjamin and he told me, "young lady we will be eating breakfast in here."

I started to walk in but then he stopped me and asked, "Where did you get that?"

I assumed that he was talking about my book and responded, "Oh, father left it to me."

Then he said, "Well he had no right to." Then he took the book and walked through the door that I assumed was the library. I was livid and hurt. He had to know how much that book meant to me. It was the only thing that my father left and as much as I tried to convey that I didn't care about him and that I knew he didn't love me; I know he did and Miss Heliotrope always told me that. I did believe her I just didn't want her to believe I cared.

I walked into the dining and I started to eat my oatmeal and I cleared my head so when I asked for my book back I didn't want to sound like a little kid who was whining over something you didn't get. I have learned that if you sound like you know what you are talking about then people will assume that you do. When my uncle walked in I said, "Uncle you should return my book to me." I tried to sound sophisticated and like I deserved an answer but he just ignored me and continued eating his breakfast in silence. I decided to drop it until later because I could tell that arguing would not get me anywhere.

After breakfast Uncle Benjamin gave me a tour of the house but the main highlight of the tour was what I couldn't do and rooms that were off limits or out of bounds. I will have to remember to go exploring by myself later in the week.

 **Thank you to everyone who has reviewed. It really means a lot to me and I know this is a lot to ask so it's fine if you don't do it but please log in to review because I enjoy replying to them. If you don't have a account I have the same story on Wattpad and Quotev so leave a comment there. If you don't like my writing no one is making you read it so please stop and don't leave a review bashing my own character on the latest chapter. If you have suggestions for me please let me know but don't leave a paragraph about why you hate me you can use your energy elsewhere.**


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